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" LIFE OF CHRIST.
NOTES.
t. The Pharisees were a sect of the Jews, who believed that all
the principles of the law needed to be elaborated, in order to he
understood by the common people. They had, therefore, in the
days of Christ, so elaborated these as to employ the entire worship
of the people in carrying out the multitudinous forms prescribed
for them. The lawyers are generally supposed to have been the
same as scribes,—Pharisees learned in the law. The term " law-
yer " was simply a title used in common parlance.
2.
Teaching by parable was a common method with Jewish
rabbis. Christ had not hitherto resorted to that form. By refer-
ence to Matthew, chapters 5 to 7, and all of Christ's early teaching,
it will be seen that He, at first, taught truth in the simplest manner.
The Jews, however, chose to find fault with this, and so, in speak-
ing to them, He adopted their chosen method, in order that they,
having deliberately rejected Him, might have the prophecy con-
cerning them fulfiled. See Isa. 6: 9, to, and the Sav;our's refer-
ence to it in Matt. 13 : 13-15, especially verse 15. It will be the •
same with us, also, unless we heed the plain teaching already
received concerning the truth.
3.
It will be noticed that each of these parables relates to some
particular phase of the one great subject,—the kingdom of God.
The first (tares) shows the kingdom entire before sin entered, its
corruption through sin, and its restoration. The next shows the
growth of the kingdom in the heart, and so on through the list.
These parables should'•be closely studied to get the most good
from the teaching of Christ relative to the kingdom of God.
4.
The word here used is the usual term for an earthquake. It
means a heavy, sudden storm, as the fury of a whirlwind, raging
from below upwards. The wild roaring of the wind, the blinding
torrents of rain, the thick darkness blotting out the stars, and the
sea
-
breaking over the boat, was enough to fill the 'stoutest hearts
with terror. Christ, however, seemed peacefully indifferent, as
He rested from His excessive labors. When aroused,
,
He exhib-
ited no fear. His first thought was not of danger; His first word
was not to the tempest; but His first care was for His disciples,
that they might be quieted.